US on Human Rights in Philippines: Unsolved Cases, Unpunished Perpetrators

The government generally respected the privacy of its citizens; however, leaders of communist organizations and rural-based NGOs complained of what they described as a pattern of surveillance and harassment. The Human Security Act of 2007 allows law enforcement authorities, with a written order from the Court of Appeals, to intercept and record conversations and any other form of communication between members of terrorist organizations or any person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Forced resettlement of urban squatters, who made up at least 30 percent of the urban population, continued during the year. The law provides certain protections for squatters; eviction was often difficult, especially because politicians recognized squatters’ voting power. Government relocation efforts were constrained by budget problems, and the issuance of land titles to squatters was limited. Through November the government evicted and resettled 9,900 of the estimated 51,000 families in Manila and southern Luzon expected to relocate for the South Luzon railway project. The project continued at year’s end.

g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts

The government was engaged in combat with antigovernment forces and terrorists who actively sought to destabilize the country. Government forces killed a number of civilians during clashes with antigovernment forces and with the terrorist ASG and the NPA. Some citizen groups complained that the AFP, in confronting the terrorist ASG and NPA, illegally detained citizens, destroyed houses, displaced residents, and shelled villages.

Killings

Communist insurgents, mainly from the NPA, continued to kill political figures, military and police officers, and civilians, including suspected military and police informers. The NPA and other extortion groups also harassed businesses and burned buses and private communication facilities to enforce the collection of “revolutionary taxes.”

On January 20, suspected NPA rebels killed one person and wounded two others in a random shooting in Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte. On May 16, NPA rebels attacked and killed seven soldiers in Manabo, Abra Province, who were deployed to provide security for transfer of election results from polling precincts to the town center for canvassing. On June 10, armed men allegedly members of a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) abducted an Italian missionary priest in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay. On July 10, ASG forces ambushed and killed 14 marines who were searching for the priest in Basilan. Ten of the marines were beheaded. On July 29, a clash between the AFP and NPA rebels in Juba, Sorsogon, killed two soldiers and two civilians. The AFP alleged that the NPA used landmines in the attack.

In July and August, the Philippine military lost more than 50 soldiers in clashes with terrorist and insurgent groups, including the 10 beheaded on July 10. An estimated 40 enemy combatants were killed during these clashes.

Extortion groups allegedly linked with the ASG and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) launched a series of bomb attacks against two bus companies in Mindanao. On May 18, a bomb inside a bus in Cotabato City killed three passengers and wounded at least 35. On June 15, bomb explosions onboard two buses in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, and in Cotabato City killed nine persons. On August 21, a bomb in a public square in Zamboanga City injured 16 persons.

On January 13, police authorities arrested a suspect in the October 2006 bombings in Makilala, North Cotabato, and in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. The DOJ filed charges of multiple murder and attempted murder against the suspect, allegedly a MILF commander. At year’s end the suspect remained in jail pending trial.

Child Soldiers

During the year the NPA and the ASG targeted children for recruitment as combatants and noncombatants. The NPA claimed that it assigned persons 15 to 18 years of age to self-defense and noncombatant duties; however, there were reports that the NPA continued to use minors in combat. During the year the Philippine Interagency Committee on Children Involved in Armed Conflict reported nine child soldiers rescued by or surrendered to the government. On March 1, seven NPA rebels surrendered to the military in Davao City; at least two were minors. One child claimed she and 13 other child soldiers in the NPA camp carried firearms. On August 9, a 16-year-old boy, who claimed to be a member of the NPA’s propaganda arm, surrendered to police authorities in Davao del Sur.

The ASG also recruited teenagers to fight and participate in its activities. There were reports that a significant number of ASG members staffing the groups’ camps were teenagers. The AFP stated that some Islamic schools in Mindanao served as fronts to indoctrinate children and that the ASG used children as couriers and spies.

Throughout the year, clashes between the AFP, JI, and the ASG, mostly in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Sulu Archipelago, contributed to the displacement of civilians. These terrorist groups killed and wounded civilians in a number of bombings.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice.

The government owned several television and radio stations; however, most print and electronic media were privately owned. The media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. Broadcast and print media were freewheeling and often criticized for lacking rigorous journalistic ethics. They tended to reflect the particular political or economic orientations of owners, publishers, or patrons, some of whom were close associates of present or past high-level officials. Special interests often used bribes and other inducements to solicit one-sided and erroneous reports and commentaries that supported their positions.

Journalists continued to be killed. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) reported six journalists killed during the year. The CMFR and Task Force Usig classified two of these cases as work-related killings.